Warp-wire feed and measuring-wheel.



P. L, KELLEY. WARP WIRE FEED AND MEASURING WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.13, 1908.

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FRANK L. KELLEY, OF ADRIAN, MICHIGAN.

WARP-WIRE FEED AND MEASURING-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed February 13, 1908. Serial No. 415,703.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. KELLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Adrian, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Warp-Wire Feed and Measuring Wheel; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to wire-fabric forming machines, and particularly to the feeding mechanism thereof by means of which the warp or longitudinal wires of the fabric are measured and paid out to the weaving parts of the machine in proper lengths to receive the woof-wires at equidistant points thereon.

In the perfect operation of a machine of this class it is necessary that the warp-wires be so held to the measuring or feed wheels as to prevent any possibility of the wires slipping thereon during the paying out operation, as otherwise the woof-wires will not be equally spaced in the fabric. To accomplish this it has been customary to provide the wheel peripheries with a series of pins arranged in staggered relation so that the wires in passing therearound will be crimped and thereby held against slipping. This construction, however, is found to be unsatisfactory for perfect work, inasmuch as it does not positively hold the wires against slipping, and also that the crimping has a tendencyto weaken the wires. When two wires are passed over a common wheel of this construction they are spaced from each other thereon by a central row of pins which cooperate with the respective outer pins to hold the wires against slipping. This manner of spacing the two wires is found objectionable, however, due to the fact that a wire frequently passes on the wrong side of the dividing-pins so that it rides on the top of the other wire and is therefore not gripped tightly by the pins, due to the outer pins being outwardly inclined relative to the spacmg plns.

The objects of my invention are to obviate these objections by the provision of a simple and eificient wheel of this class, which is provided with jaws for positively gripping the wires to prevent a slipping thereof, said jaws being engaged to and released from the wires by suitable mechanism, and which has its periphery formed with a web, which serves as a spacing means for the wires and also cooperates with the jaws to hold the same.

The operation, construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention are fully described in the following specification, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device comprising my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, showing the relative arrangement of several wheels and the cam members, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section on the line w-cv in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the measuring or feed-wheel, the rim of which is formed with the annular web-like portion 2, which has its sides contracted toward their outer ends and formed at their bases with the ledges or shoulders 3, on which the warp-wires l rest as they wind around the wheel.

At equidistantly spaced points around the outer portion of the wheel, the metal thereof is thickened and cored or cut-away transversely thereof to form a plurality of boxlike portions, as at 5, in which the two wire gripping-jaws 6, 6 are mounted. The jaws 6 are in the form of bell-crank levers and are pivoted in said boxes, as at 6, on opposite sides of the rim-web 2, which, together with a portion of the stock at the base thereof, as shown, forms unbroken rim portions across the outer ends of the boxes. The inner end portions of the jaws 6 lap each other and extend in opposite directions beneath the connecting web portions 2, of the boxes and have their terminals projecting from the box sides in position to be engaged by the controlling levers 7, 7, as shown.

The levers 7 7 are pivoted at one end to opposite sides of the associated boxing, as at S, and are provided intermediate their ends with openings 9 for receiving the projected ends of the jaws 6. A coiled contraction-spring 9 connects each lever 7 with the inner or hub portion of the wheel and acts on the lever to normally hold its jaw 6 in gripping engagement with the wire or other ob ect which is disposed between its face and the coacting side of the web 2. A positive release of each set of jaws 6 from gripping engagement with the wires 4 is effected at a predetermined point in a revolution thereof by reason of the outward oscillatory movements which are imparted to the levers against the tension of their springs as the laterally projecting spurs or lugs 10 at the free ends of the levers come in contact with and pass over the fixed cam-ways 11, which are disposed in their paths of movement. The ways 11 are shown as being formed 011 opposite sides of brackets 12, which are carried by a shaft or other suitable support 13 and project therefrom in proper position between the wheels 1, to enable the levers 7 011 different sides of a wheel to engage the contiguous ways 11 of the brackets disposed on the sides of the wheel therewith. As soon as the levers have passed from engagement with their ways 11 the jaws 6 are moved to again tightly grip the wires 4 due to the cooperating action of the springs 9 and levers 7.

In practice, the arrangement of the camways 11 relative to the wheels is preferably such that the sets of jaws 6 are moved to release the wires 4:,which encircle the wheel,just prior to the point at which the wires begin to leave the wheel, thus obviating the objectionable back or lateral pulling of the wires, which is incident to the pin-gripping and other types of feed-wheels when the wires release themselves from the gripping or nonslipping-means employed as they leave the wheel circumference, and insuring a smooth running of the feed mechanism.

It is apparent that the purpose of the web 2 is twofold, namely, to cooperate with the jaws to firmly grip the wires, and to provide means for positively guiding the two wires to their respective sides of the rim as they pass upon the same, thus preventing any possibility of a wire crossing the dividing line and riding on the same side of the wheel rim as the other wire, as is frequently the case with the pin-gripping type of feedwheels.

I wish it understood that I do not desire to be restricted to the particular construction and arrangement of the parts of the invention shown and described, as obvious modificationswill occur to persons skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

1. A wheel of the class described having its rim formed with a continuous peripheral web and with opposing ledges at the base of the web, said rim being provided heneath the web with a plurality of transverse openings, angled jaws projecting through said openings and adapted to cooperate with the web to grip wires carried by the ledges, means acting on the jaws to influence a gripping movement thereof, and means for eflecting a releasing movement of each jaw at a predetermined point in a revolution thereof.

2. In combination, a wheel having its periphery formed with relatively fixed wiregripping surfaces, a plurality of angled aws pivotally carried by the wheel and adapted to cooperate with said surfaces to grip a wire, said jaws each having an end projecting transversely of the wheel in the direc-. tion of its gripping movement, means -yieldingly influencing a movement of each lever in one direction, and cam means for effecting a releasing movement of each jaw.

3. In combination, a wheel having its periphery formed with a radial shoulder and ledge at the base thereof, a plurality of angled jaws pivoted to one side of the wheel and adapted to cooperate with said shoulder to grip a wire carried by said ledge, a lever pivoted to the wheel for each jaw and coacting with an end thereof to control its movements, means influencing a movement of each lever in one direction, and cam'means for effecting a movement of each lever ant its jaw to release the wire.

4. In combination, a wheel having its periphery formed centrally thereof with a continuous web, a plurality of sets of angled jaws pivoted to the wheel with their'jaw ends positioned to coact with said web and their other ends projecting in opposite directions laterally of the wheel, a member acting on the laterally projecting end of each jaw to cause it to normally have a gripping action, and cam means for coacting with said members at a predetermined point in a revolution thereof to efiect releasing movements of the jaws.

5. In combination, a wheel having its rim portion formed with a peripheral dividing web and cut away at spaced points around said web, jaws pivoted in said openings at opposite sides of the web and having their inner ends angled to lap each other and project in opposite directions under the web, a lever pivoted to the wheel and acting on the projected end of each jaw to control its movements, means acting on each lever to influence a movement thereof in one direction, and cam means on each side of the wheel with which the levers on the side therewith engage to effect movements of their respective jaws in the other direction to that influenced by said means.

6. In combination, a feed-wheel having its rim portion formed with a peripheral dividing web and provided with spaced boxlike portions forming transverse openings in the rim around the web base, angled levers pivoted in said boxes with their ends lapping under the web and projecting in 0pposite directions therefrom, said levers forming jaws which cooperate with opposite sides of the Web to grip interposed Wires thereto and being norma 1y influenced to grip the Wires, and means on each side of the wheel for acting on the projected lever ends to effect releasing movements thereof at predetermined points in a rotation of the Wheel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification in the W'itnesses E. N. SMITH, A. V. Corn. 

